Hey guys so I own both a sherline 4400 (long bed) lathe and the standard 10" milling base but because Im confined to a college dorm room I currently only have room for the lathe. However the other day I saw that sherline makes something that allows you to attach the z-axis of a mill to where the headstock goes on the lathe, using the same easy set screw method. I think Im going to get that base piece then take the z-axis off my milling base. After deciding this it got me thinking, if I take the z-axis off the mill base is pretty much useless so why dont I also take the x-axis off and put that in place of my cross slide? I dont currently have my mill with me so I cant measure to see that the dovetails would fit so if any one has both and would like to measure I would greatly appreciate it.
it would look like this only with the 14" lathe bed, and a much longer cross slide.
Other than the slight loss of z-axis rigidity from single point mount, and the possible awkwardness of a 13" cross slide on such a small lathe what do you guys think of the idea? Do you think it would be better or worse than the standard mill?
it would look like this only with the 14" lathe bed, and a much longer cross slide.
Other than the slight loss of z-axis rigidity from single point mount, and the possible awkwardness of a 13" cross slide on such a small lathe what do you guys think of the idea? Do you think it would be better or worse than the standard mill?